The Moorfields centre in Liverpool will close resulting in the loss of 154 jobs, and a further 34 jobs will be axed at the Wavertree centre.

The cuts were made within the Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) processing teams after the bank decided to replace human processing with an automated system, allowing customers to open new accounts immediately.

David Bruce, Barclays’ head of community relations for the North West, said: “Unfortunately there is no longer the volume of work required to sustain the team that previously processed these accounts manually and this will therefore result in a small number of redundancies from the Liverpool area.

“Any job losses are of course regrettable but there will be a large number of opportunities for these people to be redeployed in alternative roles.”

But the union Unite said it was “appalled” by the decision to cut the jobs.

Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, said: “This represents a short-term approach to savings by the bank, at a cost to the skills base and economy of the local community.

“We are totally opposed to compulsory job losses and will be meeting with our members over the coming days.”